Phillip Hostak

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To understand Slacker is to understand Austin. If you see the film and you don't enjoy it, you might consider a visit to the burg next time you're in Texas. Although the buildings are bigger, chain stores have replaced the indies, and the traffic is worse, Austin -- as a populace -- is a town that never changes, no matter what gets thrown at it.

I lived in Austin when Slacker was made in 1991 -- I was a junior at The University of Texas at the time, not cool enough to personally know anyone involved with the production but certainly aware of it when it came out. You couldn't avoid it: The film earned a miniscule release and was ignored at the national level, but in the town of Austin (population about 800,000 at the time), it got the red carpet treatement, playing in local theaters all year long.